The Western Communities Football League (WCFL) is offering a free USA Football Heads Up Clinic on Saturday, June 9 from 9 a.m. to noon.
WCFL is a certified USA Football Heads Up league. USA Football is the national governing body for amateur American football in the United States. USA Football has worked with leaders in both medicine and sport across the country to create a full-featured program that any league or school can use to address key safety issues — and ensure that every coach understands and knows how to implement each component of the program.
To lead the clinic, WCFL brought in USA Football Heads Up Certified Instructor Reginald Harris. Harris is currently the assistant head football coach at St. Thomas Aquinas High School and varsity girls and boys track coach. Harris has been coaching football for 20 years and has won seven high school state championships between California and Florida, most recently the 2018 girls track Florida state high school championship.
Harris has spent most of his life involved in football and has had several life experiences through football. “I’ve seen the best and the worst of football,” Harris explains. “So many kids I’ve seen go through football have grown in so many ways as a person. Some have used football to get out of very difficult living situations, including inner-city gangs.”
Harris believes that the Heads Up program by USA Football is a step in the right direction and is making football safer.
Harris has three boys currently playing football, one at FAU and two at WCFL. He moved his family to coach at Palm Beach Central High School in 2014. “Wellington is a great community, and my sons have had great experiences at WCFL, so I like to volunteer and help out whenever I can at the league with camps, combines and helping coaches,” he said.
Having a Heads-Up Football program in place, with teams led by USA Football certified coaches, goes a long way toward showing that youth football is being taught the right way and that parents feel confident about the league. Heads Up Football is the safer way to practice and play, according to John Navarro, president of the WCFL Board of Directors.
“Football is now safer than it has ever been, and we want the parents to know how serious the WCFL takes the safety of the kids playing football,” Navarro said. “WCFL is all about the kids, from safety to character building and doing well in school. Our goal is that the kids leave the WCFL with better tools to succeed in anything they do in life.”
Navarro went on to say, “we are lucky to have such an experienced and knowledgeable coach like coach Harris volunteer his time to help us.”
There aren’t many topics hotter in sports than the concussion issue in football right now. Years ago, the doctors, coaches and players had no ideas about concussions.
“Now we know about the concussion issue, and the medical profession has made tremendous strides in the diagnosis and treatment of concussions,” Harris said. “No sport has taken on the issue and put measures in place to address the issue like football has.”
The WCFL 2018 Tackle Football registration is now open. For info., visit www.wcflfootball.com.
